Film Review | Paper Towns

Quentin (Nat Wolff) was an ordinary guy living next door to an extraordinary girl – Margot Roth Spiegelman (Cara Delavigne). Margot was an enigma that was perched behind the adjacent window from his own. As kids, these windows were the doors to adventures, but now – it seem – they were truly the passageways to each other’s soul.

The Story

Based on the novel written by John Green, Paper Towns is yet another coming of age film aimed to touch the hearts of teens across the globe. Now, I must confess that I never read past the opening chapters of the novel, regardless, I did enjoy the journey the film took me on.

It begins with a suburban town, with suburban children who cosmically are bound by the pavement that separates their homes. Margot is the typical teen-goddess, while Quentin – a.k.a. “Q” – is the awkward band-geek pining to be something to her. In an odd series of events, Q gets his moment as Margot visits him one night and enlists him to her “Margot-Roth-Spiegelman-Revenge-Plot” towards her backstabbing friends.

Before Quentin could even enjoy his moment with Margot, she disappears. But alas! She leaves clues, which Quentin believes are hidden messages that dictate, “Come find me!” So Q enlists his fellow musketeers, along with some female tag-alongs, and embarks on a twenty-one-hour-long drive to Algoe, NY on a hunch.

Green’s concept for his novel is the old saying, “never judge a book by its cover,” with the straightforward notion of, “never think of a person as anything more than a person”. But from where I was sitting, I saw the film as an ode to the notion of, “never chase the wind; it blows when and where it pleases.” Not once did I get the idea that Quentin placed Margot on a pedestal; I saw him as a rational teenager who – like many teens today – had dreams and aspirations and Margot was his final distraction. We see Quentin and his friends set out on adventures that they’ve managed to hold off until their senior year. The most profound line that I love from the film is, “Everybody else is doing everything for the last time, but I’m experiencing everything for the first time.” I felt the movie sided more on the idea that we shouldn’t wait to live life, we should just live and let life take us where it wills.

The Cast

Nat Wolff was a brilliant lead. Taking it up a notch from his role as Isaac in The Fault in Our Stars, Wolff managed to stir his supporting prowess from Fault and turn it into gold in Paper Towns. He was funny, awkward and touching – basically anything that the scene required, he lavished it in full.

Cara Delavigne exceeded my expectations as she not only held her American accent beautifully, but also portrayed a believable Margot. Whether Margot needed to be a bad-ass-ninja, heartbroken schoolgirl or a candle-in-the-wind, she depicted it with incredible expertise that left you wanting more.

Justin Smith and Austin Abrams are receiving honourable mentions for being amazing supports and for their killer acapella version of the Pokemon theme song. They were a great balance of wit and humour, sarcasm and playful and practically, smart and well…special.

Overall, Paper Towns surpassed my low expectations so much I’m actually going to finish reading the book. That’s how convincing this movie is – I’m willing to do this book-screen process backwards! If you know me, that means a movie and/or book is worth it.

Star Rating: ★★★

Next on sL: Ant-Man